Clothes-rack



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. A. BODE.

CLOTHES RACK.

Patented June 18, 1895.l

of? 'w8 0L (L .e

ol a? @L d'2 3 af df df f2 gfa d? -fq ,a 4-

a l @1 a lo we, fle el f/ 3 Z e7 es GUI 4. es 3 /3 fz em el* e e? 4- 9f3 fz m a el ev e f, e? e 4' e7 3 ,l e@ l) 6 if b e v e6 e a e es e 65 ef2, 1J' e@ e' g e e" em el fa l f3 l e 62C 2 i e e' 2.

FICFI WITNESSESZ INVENTR; Il@ f/M- l WMLLMM A. @@DE.

I BY

QQLMLQ. J/wwd/'bx/Q ATTORNEY (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. A. BODE.

CLOTHES RACK.

No. 541,309. Patented June 18,1895.

ff' c c z ce I? c l [YQ il wl Pme INVENTOR:

WLM/NM1 A. @GDE BY] wie" UNITED STATES PATENT Or'EIcE.

WILLIAM A. BODE, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

CLOTH ESfRACK SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 541,309,dated J' une 18, 1895.

Application iiled January 15, 1895. Serial No. 534,981. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. Bonn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes Horses or Racks;and I do hereby declare the following to beafull, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in clothes horses or racks forthe drying of articles of wear and other like articles; and its objectis the production for household uses of a clothes horse or rack whichwill be of a simple, strong and eective construction, which will occupya minimum amount of space when open for use, or when folded, and iscapable of sustaining a maximum quantity of goods.

The invention therefore consists in the arrangement and combination ofavert/ical support, having a sliding piece and a series of supportingarms, which are preferably adjustably and pivotally connected with saidpost, to adjust each arm separately and cause the same to stand in anoutwardly extending position.

The invention consists, further, in the combination of such verticalpost and its parts, with certain folding frames, to be folded againstsaid post, and said frames being provided with horizontalbars forsupportinglarge pieces of clothing to be dried.

The invention, furthermore, consists in the novel arrangement andcombination of the several minor parts comprising the clothes horse orrack, and the particular method of constructing these parts andemploying the clothes horse, will be more fully pointed out in theaccompanying specification Aand finally embodied in the claim. l Y

In thel drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my novel form ofclothes horse in its open position ready for drying purposes, and Fig. 2is a similar view of the same with the parts closed. Fig. 3 is a detailview of the vertical post and its parts in vertical section, showing inconnection therewith a part of the lower folding frame. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of a hinge and button employed to connect two of thehorizontal supporting-bars of the folding frame; and Fig. 5 is avertical section of the same, taken on line :c in said Fig. 4. Fig. 6 isa perspective view of aslide on the vertical post of the clothes horseor rack. Fig. 7 isaperspective view of a clothes horse or rack of aslightly-modified form of construction, but'still embodying theprinciples of my invention; and Fig. 8 is a side View of the hinge andbutton employed in connection with the horizontal supportingbars of thefolding frame.

Similar letters of reference are employed in each of the above describedviews to indicate corresponding parts.

In said drawings, a represents a vertical post, which is preferably ofwood, but may be of metal, and isY provided in the top with a socket a',as will be seen from Fig. 3. In said socket is loosely arranged a posta2 provided with a pin 0r projection a3, which extends into said socketa', and a shoulder c4 on said post a2 rests on the top of the said posta, whereby said sections of the vertical post are rotatively placed oneupon the other, as clearly shown in the drawings. Said post a? isprovided with suitable pins or stops b upon which is arranged 'asuitable slide c having a central opening c', 'whereby said. slide canbe slipped over the said post c2 and is movable up and down thereon. Inthe upper surface of the said slide, I have formed downwardly incliningrecesses c2, radiating, as it were, from the center of said slide, eachrecess having a straight side c3 forming a stop, the purpose of whichwill be stated hereinafter. of said postc, I have arranged a suitablesupporting plate 0.5 having a central perforation, and to this issecured a metal top piece c by means of a screw a?, or in any other wellknown manner, as will be clearly evident. The peripheral surface of saidtop piece 0,6 is provided with slots a8, corresponding in number to therecesses c2 inthe slide c, and in these slots are pivotally arranged theends of roo O n the upper end` certain supporting rods or arms cl, aswill be clearly seen from an inspection of Fig. 3.

To the under side of each arm d is hinged, as at d', a suitable stay orsupport cl2, the lower end d3 of each stay being capable of holding itsarm d connected therewith in the raised position, when the end is placedin such recess cgof the slide c, after the latter has been movedupwardly on the post 0,2 and is held in its raised position by asuitable spring catch b, as clearly shown. Thus it will be seen, thatany one or all of the arms d can be supported in their raised positionsfor the drying of clothing thereon, and where a person is cramped forroom, the rack can be placed against the wall and but onehalf of thearms d are used, as will be clearly understood from an inspection ofsaid Fig. 3.

The lower folding frame consists, essentially, of the end pieces e andc', which inay'be provided with suitable feet at the bottom, and whichare connected by the cross pieces or bars e2, e3 and e4. Said end piecese and e are made to lean toward each other, so that they are fartherapart at the bottom than at the top, as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2,and whereby, the wet pieces of clothing can be placed on the differentdrying bars or rods, without any danger of the water from the wet pieceson the upper bars dripping down upon the pieces supported on the lowerbars.

Pivotally connected with the ends of the lower cross pieces e2 arehorizontal bars e5 and e6, connected by hingesas shown. Pivotallyconnected with the ends of the middle cross pieces e3 are similarlyarranged horizontal bars eland e8 connected byhingesf; and in likemanner, connected with the ends of the upper cross pieces e4arehorizontal bars e9 and. ew, which are connected by means of hinges f2.To the central portions of the cross pieces e2 and e4 are pivotallyconnected the ends of horizont-al bars e and cl2, and cl3 and erespectively, which are also pivotally connected at theirinner ends withthe opposite sides of the vertical post a by means of suitable hingesf3, or other suitable devices, as will be clearly seen from Fig. l.

When the lower folding frame is to be folded in the manner, illustratedin Fig. 2, then the hingesjff2 and f3 are arranged and connected withthe said horizontal bars in the manner, shown more especially in Figs. 4and 5.

As will be seen from Figs. l and 2, each pair of hinges -f, f-f, andf2-f2, are connected by suitable rods g, g and g2 of wood or metal,which are passed through perforations in the post a and the ends ofwhich, as will be seen from Fig. 5, extend into the perforated ears ofsaid hinges and are secured in position therein by ornamental caps orbutton 7L and screws h', substantially as shown.

Of course it will be evident, that any suitable construction of pivotalconnections may be used in place of the hinges hereinshown anddescribed, the main purpose of the invention being to provide a foldingframe adapted to be folded against a vertical post,V 7o as a,substantially in the manner as illustrated in Fig. 2,. One of the crosspieces e3, on the. end pieces e', is provided with a suitable locking orholding device, as t, having a holding portion, as c", which can becaught over the edge of the cross piece e3 connecting the end pieces e,when the frame is folded, and thereby the several parts of the clothesrack or horse are secured in their folded relation to one another andtake up but very little space. In 8o order that the said folding framemay be folded inthe manner illustrated in said Fig.

2, theV hingesf, f and f2 are arranged as shown in said Fig. 4, but whenit is desired to` fold the frame in the manner illustrated in Fig. 7, inwhich case the vertical post a and its parts remain stationary, then thehinges connecting the several parts or arms of the frame are reversedand are secured to said parts as clearly shown in Fig. 8, but otherwise9o the construction and arrangement of the several parts of the clotheshorse is precisely like the construction shown in said Figs. l and 2.

In the one construction, the posta receives an upward movement when theframe is folded, and the ends e and c of the frame in that case act assupports, but in the modification shown in Fig. 7, the frames are raisedas they are folded and the post a, which is provided with a foot piecea9,i acts as a support to the device.

Of course it will be evident, that certain changes may be made in thearrangements and combinations of the parts herein shown and described,and I 'therefore do not limit my invention to the exact details,arrangement and construction of said parts.

It will be seen that when the parts of the clothes horse or rack areopen, ready for use, the clothing or other articles to be dried, can bearranged to good advantage, and the rack, when folded, takes up but verylittle space. n

If desired, the upper post a2 and its arms connected therewith, beingdetachably con-4 nected with the lower post a., can be readily removedin packing for shipment, or where a person, using the device, islimited'for'space.

There are many other advantages, which will be readily seen from thefact, that the action of each arm d is independent, whereby all arms canbe used at one time, or only one, two or three, as may be desirable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- The hereindescribed clothes horse, comprising therein, a vertical post, as a, endpieces e and e', cross bars or pieces e2, c3 and e4, horizontal bars e5and e, pivotally connected with said cross bars e2, horizontal bars c7and e8 pivotally connected with said cross ICO los

bars e3, horizontal bars e9 and 61, pivo'tally con- In testimony that Iclaim the invention set neeted with said cross bars e4, and rods g, g.forth above I have hereunto set my hand this and g2, extending from saidvertical post, and 12th day of January, 1895.V

means for pivotally securing the inner ends WILLIAM` A. BODE. of thesaid horizontal bars to said rods g, g Witnesses:

and 92,' substantially as and for the purposes FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, setforth. WM. H. CAMFIELD, J r.

